comMITTed to Romney!

I’d like to begin by saying that I have felt absolutely apathetic in politics for some time since the last election cycle. I’ve been very cynical. I’ve seen so much vitriol from all politicians that it’s literally made me sick to my stomach. I’m not alone in this thought process. I have swung in so many directions that I’m proud to be called a flip flopper. To some that might imply weakness, to me it implies thought. I’ve done much thinking over these past several months. I’ve thought on many issues too. The biggest though being the central issue that lead me to Mitt last go round.

The health care issue is important to me. I’m a mother of four special needs children and I have some issues along those lines myself. There are many Americans in my position. At first I’ll be honest with you, I was very excited about Obamacare. That might appear selfish, but I have been pretty desperate to get health coverage that is ALMOST impossible for me to get (I say almost because it looks like we’re finally going to make it happen soon). But, ever since Obamacare was passed there have been so many waivers given to companies that it’s useless legislation. Not to mention the fact that the government doesn’t tend to run things too effectively. I believe in Mitt’s six pronged approach of repealing Obamacare, giving states flexibility and options, Tax Reform, Regulatory Reform, Medical Malpractice Reform, and allowing market forces to avail people of the coverage that right now they can not obtain.

In future posts I’ll go in depth on other issues that I believe Mitt is on the right track on.

One of the reasons I’ve been so apathetic to politics is how nasty it’s been. I get so sick of hearing about the right attacking the left and the left attacking the right. To be quite honest there is bad in all politicians (Mitt included), I’m not about to say otherwise. With that said, I believe that Mitt is the best person for the job at this point in time. There are some issues that I may not agree with, but for the most part I believe Mitt is IT! So, I’ll be blogging here again.

I plan to run this blog differently than the last time though. I plan to post positive things about Mitt and that’s IT! I’ll go into his ideology, the issues, his strengths, but I do not plan to attack any single other candidate. I will compare candidates to Romney to show how he would be stronger in said situations, but I do NOT plan to attack (or use other forms of oppositional research). As Dana Carvey, a famous comedian of my generation parodied on Saturday Night Live a former US President, “Not gonna do it, wouldn’t be prudent.” In my opinion we should do what our mother’s have always taught us, if we can’t say anything nice, we shouldn’t say anything at all. I know that this might sound Utopian, but it is what Christ would have me do so I plan to do it.

I no longer call myself a Republican, I’m supporting Mitt because he’s who I feel should be President at this point in time. If Mitt should not win (which he will), I do not plan to support any another Republican. I don’t know what I would do in such situation (thankfully, I won’t need to decide ; - ) )

I look forward to any and all of your comments. I hope that you will engage this site once again. I remember the good old days here, and I hope to return this site to the bustling city that it once was. Care to join me?

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NEW ORLEANS — Mitt Romney won the straw poll at the Southern Republican Leadership conference here Saturday in a victory that will be taken as a sign of the former Massachusetts governor’s strength as a 2012 presidential candidate.

That’s because the 2008 GOP presidential hopeful elected to skip the conference to continue his book tour, unlike many of his rivals.

Romney triumphed by a single vote over Ron Paul, who took second place, 439 votes to 438. Sarah Palin and Newt Gingrich tied for third with 18 percent of the vote each.

1,806 ballots were cast by the conservative activists who attended the conference. No other candidate got more than four percent of the vote.

On the straw poll ballot, conference attendees were asked who they would vote for if the Republican presidential primary were today. They were asked for a first and second choice from among nine candidates: Newt Gingrich, Mike Huckabee, Gary Johnson, Palin, Paul, Tim Pawlenty, Mike Pence, Romney and Rick Santorum. (See the ballot here.)

Huckabee, Pawlenty and Romney did not appear at the conference, though Pawlenty sent in a video address. Some rumored 2012 candidates, including Rick Perry, Haley Barbour and Bobby Jindal asked to be taken off the ballot, Hotline’s Reid Wilson reported.

Supporters of both Romney and Paul spent money in an effort to win the straw poll, with a group called “Evangelicals for Mitt” paying for 200 tickets for supporters and Paul’s Campaign for Liberty offering more than 600 discounted tickets for Paul backers, according to Washington Post’s David Weigel.

Paul’s mostly-college age supporters stood out form the rest of the conference-goers and cheered their preferred candidate loudly when he spoke. Many other attendees remained silent or offered only polite applause during Paul’s speech. Paul won the Conservative Political Action Conference in February on the strength of his passionate if limited following.

“Evangelicals for MItt” gave away books, buttons and piggy banks to conference attendees and urged them to cast ballots. Organizers claimed they did not coordinate with Romney’s Political Action Committee or staff, though one attendee speculated that they found her via Romney’s e-mail list and offered a free ticket.

Straw polls offer a signal about the level of support for various candidates, though detractors are quick to note they are easily manipulated and that the pool of respondents do not necessarily represent the party overall. The winner in 2006 was former Tennessee Sen. Bill Frist, who won when the conference was held in his home state of Memphis.

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By Lisa Riley Roche
Deseret News

Tracy Parker, a wedding hostess from Centerville, was already starting to read her pre-autographed copy of his book, included in the ticket price. Parker said the evening was a surprise 50th birthday present from her husband, Rich.

“I’m excited to read it. Oh my gosh, there are so many things I think about,” she said, tapping the cover of the book. “I have no idea what we should be doing. But this man is so smart.”

Some Utahns in the audience paid extra to spend time with Romney at a reception held before the speech that also was attended by fellow Republicans politicians, including Sens. Bob Bennett and Orrin Hatch and Rep. Jason Chaffetz.

Chaffetz joked about the large turnout for Romney. “He’s a rock star. Jon Bon Jovi doesn’t get this many people.”

Larry Deans, who moved from Southern California to Hooper, Weber County, after losing his aerospace job, said Romney spoke at the reception about his time as head of the 2002 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City and “how warm and wonderful the people of Utah are.”

Deans said he wants to see Romney make another run for the White House to bring his business expertise to Washington, D.C. “I shook his hand and told him I wanted him to run again in 2012,” Deans said.

Romney’s wife, Ann, spoke to the crowd before his speech, reminding them of the years their family spent in Utah during the 2002 Winter Games.

“We had a life-changing experience by being here. It was such a wonderful blessing in our lives,” Ann Romney said, noting they were just in Vancouver for the 2010 Winter Olympics.

“Yes, those Games are nice, but there’s nothing like Salt Lake,” she said.

http://www.deseretnews.com/article/700016373/Rock-star-Mitt-Romney-gets-big-ovation-in-Utah.html?pg=2

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by Dan Nowicki
The Arizona Republic

Former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney’s recent endorsement of Arizona Sen. John McCain’s re-election was widely viewed as another sign of how far the relationship between the two fierce rivals from the 2008 Republican presidential primaries has evolved.

More cynical observers noted that Romney, a leading GOP 2012 White House prospect, likely wants to remain on the good side of McCain, his party’s 2008 nominee.

But to some in the camp of Senate challenger J.D. Hayworth, Romney’s embrace of McCain came as a personal blow.

Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio, perhaps Hayworth’s highest-profile ally in the state, previously was Romney’s honorary Arizona campaign chairman, going so far as to stump for Romney and against McCain in the key early presidential-race states of Iowa and New Hampshire.

Arpaio said Romney’s decision to back McCain won’t diminish his respect for him.

“If he runs again, I’m sure he would like to have McCain support him,” Arpaio said. “Is that how politics operates? One day you’re on one side, and the next day you’re on the other side?”

Jason Rose, Hayworth’s campaign spokesman and political consultant, was Romney’s state director during the 2008 race.

“Governor Romney is a good man who would make a great president,” Rose said in an e-mail when asked about Romney’s choice of McCain over Hayworth.

Meanwhile, a Facebook group called “Mitt Romney Supporters for J.D. Hayworth” as of late Friday had 137 members, including Hayworth himself.

In other developments:

• Local “tea party” activists apparently aren’t totally sold on Hayworth as a conservative alternative to the more moderate McCain. Organizers of four tea-party groups in Phoenix, Tucson, Flagstaff and Mohave County issued a joint statement Monday saying they are declining to endorse in the GOP Senate primary.

“The Tea Party is a non-partisan, grass-roots movement that stands for limited government, free markets, and fiscal responsibility,” Tucson Tea Party co-founder Robert Mayer said in a written statement. “Both McCain and Hayworth’s records during their many years in Washington leave much to be desired on these issues.”

But Hayworth still can point to local tea-party support - many in attendance at his Feb. 15 campaign kickoff identified themselves with the movement - and he recently did secure the endorsement of the national group TaxDay TeaParty.com.

• Rep. Charles Rangel’s ethics troubles have prompted three House Democrats from Arizona to jettison campaign cash linked to the embattled New York Democrat.

Rep. Harry Mitchell returned $28,000 and Rep. Gabrielle Giffords donated $21,000 to veterans groups, aides confirmed. Rep. Ann Kirkpatrick relinquished $14,000, the Associated Press reported.

Rangel, under fire for multiple ethics issues, on Wednesday said he was stepping aside as chairman of the prestigious House Ways and Means Committee.

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CBN News
By: David Brody

Mitt Romney, who is clearly positioning himself for a 2012 run at the White House starts his book tour this week.

The book is called “No apology: The case for American greatness.”

Despite the rumor, it is not called “Mitt Romney Goes Rogue”. That’s Palin territory. And it is not called, “I’m a Mormon. Deal With It.”

Anyhow, this media blitz looks like a presidential campaign schedule. He’s going to 19 states and among them are the political hot bed states of Iowa, New Hampshire, South Carolina, Florida, Pennsylvania and Nevada.

The Romney campaign says the former Massachusetts governor will stop by The Brody File for an interview.

I promised that we would have bagels and lox in the green room for him. Not sure if he cares but that would be a big draw for my family members.

Quick Brody File straw poll. You like salted or unsalted lox?

http://blogs.cbn.com/thebrodyfile/archive/2010/03/01/romneys-presidential-book-tour.aspx

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PUBLIC POLICY POLLING

Mitt Romney is the early preference, by a small margin, among Republican voters in both Texas and New Mexico to be their 2012 nominee for President.

In Texas he gets 32% with Mike Huckabee right behind at 29%, and Sarah Palin further back at 23%. In New Mexico he receives 33% to 32% for Palin and 18% for Huckabee.

The internals of these polls suggests a path to the nomination for Romney: stay competitive among conservative voters while holding a large lead with moderates. In Texas the three are bunched up among conservatives with Huckabee leading at 32% to 30% for Romney and 27% for Palin. But Romney’s blowing the other two out of the water with moderates, getting 40% to 22% for Huckabee and 13% for Palin.

It’s a similar story in New Mexico. Palin leads Romney 34-31 with conservatives, but Romney has the overall advantage thanks to a 37-29 advantage with moderates.

In each state Romney is particularly strong with senior citizens, who tend to comprise a large portion of the Republican primary electorate. He has an 11 point lead over Huckabee with them in Texas and 13 point lead over Palin with them in New Mexico.

One of the more interesting things about Palin’s numbers is that she performs worse with women than men in both states. In New Mexico she gets 33% from men and 31% from women, while in Texas she gets 26% from men and 21% from women. It doesn’t appear she’d be able to count on a boost from Republican women in a hypothetical White House bid.

Obviously it’s incredibly early and things will change a lot between now and 2012, but it’s a good sign for Romney to have even this small early advantage in a couple of states that are a long way from home.

http://publicpolicypolling.blogspot.com/2010/02/good-numbers-for-romney.html

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POLITICO

One of the first big moves of 2012 — Mitt Romney Names Matt Rhoades PAC Executive Director:

BOSTON — Mitt Romney’s Free and Strong America PAC announced today that Matt Rhoades, who has held senior positions on major presidential campaigns and at the Republican National Committee, will serve as the PAC’s executive director. … ‘He’s been a friend and an adviser for several years now and I’m pleased that he has agreed to run the day-to-day operations of my Free and Strong America PAC. He shares with me the view that 2010 is going to be a critical election year, with many races and lots of opportunities to elect Republican candidates,’ said Governor Romney.

“Rhoades is currently a Vice President with DCI Group … He replaces Peter Flaherty, who will become a Senior Adviser to the PAC. He previously served as Communications Director for Romney’s 2008 presidential campaign … During the 2006 election cycle, Rhoades was a Deputy Communications Director in charge of research for the Republican National Committee. He also was Research Director for the 2004 Bush/Cheney re-election campaign. Rhoades also has held the position of White House Liaison at the U.S. Office of Personnel Management in the Bush Administration. Prior to that, he was an Associate Director in the White House Presidential Personnel Office. He holds a B.A. from Syracuse University and an M.A. from George Washington University.”

Rhoades, a big J-E-T-S fan, will be moving to Red Sox Nation.

Kevin Madden: “Matt is one of those rare professionals who blends strategic thinking with a superb management style. The governor has a lot of respect for and confidence in Matt and his leadership abilities. Those sentiments are widely shared by everyone counted as part of the Romney team.”

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Take a listen to Mitt Romney easily parry the reporter’s loaded questions on this YouTube video from August, 2008. It reminds me why I believe that Gov. Romney is the most qualified candidate for President in 2012. Can you think of anyone else who can handle these financial and tax questions with such ease?

After four long years of political drift and massive deficits, we are going to have to unite behind the “best businessman in North America,” as CNBC’s Jim Cramer said a couple of years ago. We can’t afford the luxury of anymore bone-headed experiments in socialism in this country. We are going to have to return to the discipline of the “profit and loss” statement. If any proposal, from either party, can’t be proven to be deficit-neutral, the automatic answer is “No!”

~~John Cronin~~

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If you are a conservative or a center-right voter, take the time to watch this excellent YouTube video that exposes the smears and outright lies that were used to prevent Gov. Romney from winning the nomination of the Republican Party and thereby ushering into power someone who looks like a man on track to become the worst President in the history of the Unites States of America.

~~John Cronin~~

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A poll of GOP insiders suggests that ex-AK Gov. Sarah Palin (R) has little support among the party’s professional class — and maybe that’s just how she wants it.

In a survey of 109 party leaders, political professionals and pundits, Palin finished 5th on the list of candidates most likely to win the party’s ‘12 WH nomination. Ex-MA Gov. Mitt Romney (R) was the overwhelming choice of the Party insiders.

Voters were asked to rank 5 candidates in the order of likeliness to capture the GOP nod. The results:

Likely To Win WH’12 Nomination (First place votes)

Ex-MA Gov. Mitt Romney 81 points (62%)
MN Gov. Tim Pawlenty 46 (9%)
Sen. John Thune 38 (12%)
MS Gov. Haley Barbour 28 (6%)
IN Gov. Mitch Daniels 25
Ex-AK Gov. Sarah Palin 25

Rounding out the top 10: Ex-House Speaker Newt Gingrich, ex-AR Gov. Mike Huckabee, ex-FL Gov. Jeb Bush, LA Gov. Bobby Jindal. Candidates other than Romney, Pawlenty, Thune and Barbour split the remaining 11% of first-place votes.

Meanwhile, Dem insiders too think Romney is the most likely candidate to run against Pres. Obama next year. The results, from interviews with 111 Dem insiders:

Likely To Win WH’12 Nomination

Romney 29%
Thune 15
Pawlenty 13
Daniels 11
Gingrich 6

And Dems are even less convinced Palin is a serious candidate. Just 3% of Dem insiders said she would be the candidate running against Obama in ‘12.

Then again, Palin fans can take heart, given just how long candidates have to go until the first nominating contests. In ‘06, insiders predicted that ex-Sen. George Allen (R-VA) would be the GOP nominee, and that Sec/State Hillary Clinton would easily win the Dem nomination.

http://hotlineoncall.nationaljournal.com/archives/2010/01/gop_insiders_so.php

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‘No Apology’ looks at nation’s standing in world

WASHINGTON - Later this winter, Mitt Romney will strike out on a national book tour, but unlike his party’s most successful recent author he does not expect to make headlines with bits of fresh gossip from the 2008 campaign, see his fans camp overnight outside bookstores, or chat with Oprah Winfrey about his family.

“Inevitably there are going to be comparisons with the Sarah Palin book,’’ said Eric Fehrnstrom, a Romney spokesman. “We’re not going to match her crowd size or sales. These are two different people with different ways of expressing themselves.’’

http://www.boston.com/news/nation/washington/articles/2010/01/03/romney_will_hit_key_primary_states_on_book_tour/

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Republicans have seized on the attempted terrorist attack on NWA 253 Christmas Day as evidence that the Obama administration is as feckless at protecting this country from attack as they are at stimulating the economy.

~~John Cronin~~

http://www.solidprinciples.com/blog/?p=2963

The early contours of the Republicans’ national-security narrative against Mr. Obama and his party can be seen in the theme of a book to be published this spring by Mr. Romney. The book, “No Apology: The Case for American Greatness,” touches on GOP allegations that Mr. Obama, with appeals such as his conciliatory speech over the summer to the Muslim world, has been too willing to apologize for his country’s past actions.

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Below is a brief excerpt from An NPR blog that I came across. The author makes a couple of statements that I would like to refute.

1. Mitt Romney is not the “average Republican activist’s cup of tea.” He may not have been in 2008, but now that Republican activists have had a chance to fully sort out the 2008 primary campaign, Mitt Romney is soaring in the estimation of these same grassroots activists.

Sarah Palin has morphed into a celebrity author, famous for being famous and her announcement that she will campaign for candidates possibly outside the Republican Party makes her anathema to this Republican activist. If we are able to regain our ability to filibuster the Obama administration’s toxic bills, it will be because we have 41 Republicans in the U.S. Senate. We will not have the luxury of electing any third party candidates who may or may not vote with the Pubbies.

2. Mitt Romney kept a “low profile in 2009.” Huh? He endorsed winning candidates across the country, including the election of two high profile Republicans in New Jersey and Virginia and he has written well received Op-Eds in respected newspapers at regular intervals.

The bottom line is simply this. Mitt Romney continues to be the candidate that the Left and their sycophants in the Dinosaur Media fear the most. Don’t buy the Dem talking points that it’s Palin that they fear most. Katie Couric and Charlie Gibson destroyed Palin by asking her simple questions in televised interviews. Can you picture her at the podium debating Obama on the details of rebuilding the American economy, or the minutiae of the Health Care bill? Or try to picture her debating venture capitalist Mitt Romney during the 2012 primary. To a growing body of party activists, the candidate that they are looking at to restore their viability is Mitt Romney.

~~John Cronin~~

Question No. 7: Will Sarah Palin go back to Alaska and tackle its thorny problems as governor or pursue a career as a national media figure? Answer: All too obvious. Palin resigned as governor in midsummer and mounted a national tour as co-author of a tell-and-tease autobiography trashing the campaign staff of her ticketmate John McCain. We expect to see a lot of her on TV and in the blogosphere in months to come. And she will campaign for other Republicans around the country in 2010. But don’t bank on her being in Iowa and New Hampshire in 2011. She will flirt with another national campaign, but the downside of a poor showing would be too steep. She will opt for the spotlight but not the hot seat.

Question No. 6: So who will emerge as an early favorite for the GOP in 2012? Answer: No one so far. Mitt Romney, the venture capitalist and former governor of Massachusetts who ran a pretty good campaign in 2008, remains the class of the field but kept a low profile in 2009. Mike Huckabee led in some polls of Republicans that also found Sarah Palin popular. But Huckabee ended the year uncertain about running (and damaged by a clemency scandal from his days as Arkansas governor). Romney remains too much a general election candidate, a problem for the Democrats to be sure but far from the average Republican activist’s cup of tea. His past positions on social issues were too styled to Massachusetts, and his Mormonism still leaves the party’s religious base lukewarm at best.

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Gov. Romney continues to stay in the public eye as he prepares, in the opinion of many pundits and party leaders, to lay the ground work for another Presidential run.

~~John Cronin~~

http://www.bakersfieldnow.com/news/local/79762447.html

By Eyewitness News staff

BAKERSFIELD, Calif. – Bakersfield Business Conference organizers announced today that four additional speakers will join the October 9, 2010 speaker lineup: Newt Gingrich, Jane Seymour, Tony Plana, and Joe Clark.

Next year’s conference will feature 24 speakers in a format that will allow attendees to choose between some of the best platform speakers in America based their interests and preferences.

Conference organizers previously announced several speakers confirmed for the 2010 conference that includes 2008 Republican vice-presidential candidate Sarah Palin, former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney, Vice President Dick Cheney and former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani.

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http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2009/12/16/presidential-hopeful-pawlenty-ratchets-attacks-obama/

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